Really wild

In our latest issue, which hits schools, colleges and unis this week, we’ve got a cracker of an interview with wildlife cameraman, TV presenter and all-round lovely bloke Gordon Buchanan. Because Gordon had so much to say about his fascinating career, we’ve got even more from the man himself right here! Prepare to want to ditch the books and head off with a video camera to get up close with lions and tigers and bears… Oh my.

 

How did you get into it filming wildlife in the first place?

A lot of being successful as a wildlife cameraman, it’s about being in the right place at the right time. I messed about so much at school, but I knew that I wanted to leave Mull and I knew that I wanted to do something interesting and exciting. It was sheer coincidence, I was working in a restaurant and the owner’s husband was a wildlife cameraman. I spoke to him, asked how I would go about getting into it. He said, “Study zoology or biology at university,” and I thought, “Right, well, can’t do that…” About six months later, he asked if I’d like to assist on a project. So I went to school the next day and told the headmaster I wasn’t coming back. Three months later, I was in West Africa for about a year and a half, aged 17.

 

That’s a pretty good reason for leaving school!

Yeah, they couldn’t really argue with that! I’d been offered the chance of a lifetime. I was so lucky, at the age of 17, I was in the right place at the right time.

 

You’ve tracked polar bears, you’ve done Big Cat Diaries, there was the black bears, but you do a lot of UK wildlife work too. How does it compare to the more exotic animals?

It is as interesting. I think it’s made more special when I’m filming something in Scotland because it’s my home. And Scotland has got some of the most accessible wildlife in the world. Having travelled a lot over the last 23 years, you realise how amazing Scotland is, how much it has to offer.

 

Where did you make the transition from behind the camera to in front?

I was making a leopard film in Sri Lanka and filming big cats in a forest environment is really tough. With leopards, their entire livelihood relies on remaining hidden. The producer said, “If you’re struggling to find leopards, we’re going to have to bulk this programme up with something. It might have to be your quest to find these cats.” After I month, I realised we were going to have to do some bulking up. The producer said, “Just film yourself!” So I ended up just filming myself on a handicam and it got edited into the film. And it all went from there!

 

Which do you prefer – being a cameraman or a presenter?

I enjoy both of them, probably equally. But I suppose if I was ever going to be recognised – I say ‘recognised’, I mean if I was to get an award for the work that I do, I’d prefer to get a significant award for camera work rather than presenting. That was my dream when I started working as an assistant, was to be working as a cameraman.

 

What’s the longest you’ve sat waiting for an animal to do something?

In Sierra Leon we were waiting on chimpanzees to come to these sites to crack nuts open with rocks. That was about a month of waiting before we got the sequence. I’ve done three weeks waiting for birds to leave the nest. But four weeks waiting on these chimps to come to the site was… [shakes head] I was sitting in a hide full of mosquitoes with nothing to look at. You might wait for days and days on top of a cliff with loads to look at, but when you’re in a hide, there’s not much to do.

 

I suppose technology will have made the job a little easier, with motion sensor cameras and the like.

Yeah, when I first started working in this industry I thought we’d run out of animals and all their stories would have been told. But I never considered how much technology would move on. In the last ten years, there’s been huge advances. Filming wildlife, traditionally, was quite fogey-ish, it was just people with a camera sitting about waiting for things to happen. But it is an industry to be the first to develop and exploit new technology. It opens new doors to the natural world. You can see much more of the planet now than we’ve ever been able to see, thanks to the technology.

 

What’s the best thing about your job?

I think getting to see the most remote and wild places in the world and some of the most incredible animals, that’s great.

 

And what’s the hardest part?

I think just the time away from home. That’s the only downside really. Missing out on seeing your family and seeing your friends. It’s trying to get the balance right between work and life, which everyone talks about. But when your life and your work is kind of one and the same, it’s quite difficult.

 

What would you say is your ultimate goal, career-wise?

To have the same opportunities when I’m 80 as I have now. David Attenborough is a huge hero of mine, and he has been relevant and current for 60 years. If I could take one attribute from him, it would be to, in my 80s, still be doing this job. Along with that, to make people care more about the wild and the natural environment and animals we share the planet with. Not just to care, because that’s not enough. But to want to do something to help. Maybe actively pursuing conservation or zoology, whether it’s working for charity. But everyone can help the natural environment, it’s an essential part of this planet.

 

Read part one of our interview with Gordon in the spring issue of Source magazine, out now.

 

By Lindsay Cochrane

Lindsay started out at Source as a student writer during her post-grad at Strathclyde Uni. These days, she's the magazine's editor, dedicating her working day to making the Source magic happen! Lindsay likes pugs, going to the cinema and 24-hour news channels.

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